This theme has to deal with how females can seduce men very easily and be deadly. The book takes this theme very literally by the danger of it. This theme is found throughout the book and I believe, most emphasized in this section. In this book, the female vampires are portrayed as devils of Satan and try to seduce men in the book. Lucy tries to seduce Arthur to come to her when she was a vampire and the three sisters took advantage of Jonathon Harker. Those seemed to have been small temptations that any man would fall into. However, I think its emphasized here because Van Helsing almost falls into the trap. Van Helsing, to me, is portrayed as a holy desciple of the Christ and trying to help and protect the innocent. The fact that the three sisters almost took advantage of the man, surprises me. To see a man so strong mentally, physically, and just overall to fall to such evil powers. Because the whole book Van Helsing never seemed to mentally vulnerable up until this point. "Then the beautiful eyes of the fair woman open and look love, and the voluptuous mouth present to a kiss, and the man is weak." (Stoker 319) is what Van Helsing writes about the three sisters showing the female sexuality to men is a danger and is scary how powerful it is. He and to every other man, their weakness is the female entice toward sex.
Critical Passage:
Chapter 27 page 326 "'Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain! See! The snow is not more stainless than her forehead! The curse has passed away'"
This passage is when Godalming speaks after Dracula dies and he is already stabbed. He is rejoiced by the fact that Dracula is dead even though his death is near and found this quote to be very symbolic. It shows that God is good and Dracula seems to be the Satan in the book. He does have some Satan-like abilities and Godalming speaks upon it. The relation between the bible was present throughout the book as they fought off Dracula with holy goods like the wafer, holy water, and crucifix. Not only is Dracula symbolic, but Mina's mark on her forehead. Her mark does seem to be Dracula's curse, but is also a mark of the presence of evil. The company's life was very tough during Dracula's presence, but after his death everything seemed to be more pure and clean. Mina states earlier that even during a time of death (Dracula's death) things seemed to be more peaceful. He says snow because snow is clean and since her forehead is clear of the curse her head seems to be purified. I believe this quote is important due to a continual good vs. evil theme found throughout the book.
Literary Device:
Irony
I found irony at the end of the book in Jonathan Harker's note. "'We want no proofs; we ask none to believe us!" (Stoker 327) quote by Van Helsing. He says this because the original journals that they wrote disappeared therefore making Van Helsing tell people to not believe because its not a primary source, but a secondary source, we shouldn't hesitate to not believe in this. This is ironic because the whole book seems to become pointless. Usually journals are written to help explain a certain happening to help as evidence. However, this statement contradicts that idea entirely. I do think that there also is some sarcasm in this phrase as well to emphasize that this is true as there is an exclamation point at the end. The exclamation changes the meaning from a statement to a more humorous/sarcastic phrase.
Imagery "The Castle of Dracula now stood out against the red sky, and every stone of its broken battlements was articulated against the light of the setting sun." (Stoker 325)
This is a nice excerpt of imagery in the book. There are many instances where the literary device is shown and this is one of them. It portrays a seen where the nice red sun is setting behind the Castle of Dracula. With all the broken parts/walls stuck together sticking out due to the light of the sun. This depicts a peaceful scene right after Dracula's death and matches the timing. Before, the castle was given an image of darkness and had no light near it, but changed in this scene.
Reflection:
From doing this activity, I learned a lot. This activity made me look more deeply into this novel. In the other sections I only thought of the plot and what was actually going on. However, this made me look at what the author really wanted me to get out of it and look at the little things like literary devices found throughout most pieces of work especially this one. The pros of this was that I was able to learn all this and enjoy it at the same time. The cons of this is most likely the group discussion part. This was a bit odd because we would make questions that we'd almost never reviewed and should time manage the activity we play more in general. I think I could've improved my part in the discussion by not having trouble to explain my part. I don't know why, but in English, I have a tendency to choke and mess up.
Theme:
The Danger of Female Sexuality
This theme has to deal with how females can seduce men very easily and be deadly. The book takes this theme very literally by the danger of it. This theme is found throughout the book and I believe, most emphasized in this section. In this book, the female vampires are portrayed as devils of Satan and try to seduce men in the book. Lucy tries to seduce Arthur to come to her when she was a vampire and the three sisters took advantage of Jonathon Harker. Those seemed to have been small temptations that any man would fall into. However, I think its emphasized here because Van Helsing almost falls into the trap. Van Helsing, to me, is portrayed as a holy desciple of the Christ and trying to help and protect the innocent. The fact that the three sisters almost took advantage of the man, surprises me. To see a man so strong mentally, physically, and just overall to fall to such evil powers. Because the whole book Van Helsing never seemed to mentally vulnerable up until this point. "Then the beautiful eyes of the fair woman open and look love, and the voluptuous mouth present to a kiss, and the man is weak." (Stoker 319) is what Van Helsing writes about the three sisters showing the female sexuality to men is a danger and is scary how powerful it is. He and to every other man, their weakness is the female entice toward sex.Critical Passage:
Chapter 27 page 326"'Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain! See! The snow is not more stainless than her forehead! The curse has passed away'"
This passage is when Godalming speaks after Dracula dies and he is already stabbed. He is rejoiced by the fact that Dracula is dead even though his death is near and found this quote to be very symbolic. It shows that God is good and Dracula seems to be the Satan in the book. He does have some Satan-like abilities and Godalming speaks upon it. The relation between the bible was present throughout the book as they fought off Dracula with holy goods like the wafer, holy water, and crucifix. Not only is Dracula symbolic, but Mina's mark on her forehead. Her mark does seem to be Dracula's curse, but is also a mark of the presence of evil. The company's life was very tough during Dracula's presence, but after his death everything seemed to be more pure and clean. Mina states earlier that even during a time of death (Dracula's death) things seemed to be more peaceful. He says snow because snow is clean and since her forehead is clear of the curse her head seems to be purified. I believe this quote is important due to a continual good vs. evil theme found throughout the book.
Literary Device:
IronyI found irony at the end of the book in Jonathan Harker's note. "'We want no proofs; we ask none to believe us!" (Stoker 327) quote by Van Helsing. He says this because the original journals that they wrote disappeared therefore making Van Helsing tell people to not believe because its not a primary source, but a secondary source, we shouldn't hesitate to not believe in this. This is ironic because the whole book seems to become pointless. Usually journals are written to help explain a certain happening to help as evidence. However, this statement contradicts that idea entirely. I do think that there also is some sarcasm in this phrase as well to emphasize that this is true as there is an exclamation point at the end. The exclamation changes the meaning from a statement to a more humorous/sarcastic phrase.
Imagery
"The Castle of Dracula now stood out against the red sky, and every stone of its broken battlements was articulated against the light of the setting sun." (Stoker 325)
This is a nice excerpt of imagery in the book. There are many instances where the literary device is shown and this is one of them. It portrays a seen where the nice red sun is setting behind the Castle of Dracula. With all the broken parts/walls stuck together sticking out due to the light of the sun. This depicts a peaceful scene right after Dracula's death and matches the timing. Before, the castle was given an image of darkness and had no light near it, but changed in this scene.
Reflection:
From doing this activity, I learned a lot. This activity made me look more deeply into this novel. In the other sections I only thought of the plot and what was actually going on. However, this made me look at what the author really wanted me to get out of it and look at the little things like literary devices found throughout most pieces of work especially this one. The pros of this was that I was able to learn all this and enjoy it at the same time. The cons of this is most likely the group discussion part. This was a bit odd because we would make questions that we'd almost never reviewed and should time manage the activity we play more in general. I think I could've improved my part in the discussion by not having trouble to explain my part. I don't know why, but in English, I have a tendency to choke and mess up.